At this juncture, your situation may seem quite dire, and it is highly likely that you fear permanent negative changes in your life, but hiring a Pocahontas, Illinois DUI or DWI Lawyer may calm your anxiety due to your decision to drink and operate a motor vehicle. It’s probably been less than ten days since you were arrested, and therefore you still have time to take action that can enhance your prospects in the near term. As a starting point, you get the ability to appeal your license suspension and seek a hearing to which you are entitled, but about which you were not explicitly and clearly informed. Specific jurisdictions supply seven days for such an appeal, others provide ten days, but in spite of the time line, it is critical to get in touch with the DMV as soon as you can. In the event you have already consulted with an attorney, this could have been one of the initial questions he or she asked, as it can have a substantial long term impact on your case.

Should you fail to pursue this course of action and the deadline has passed, it is possible that you will have lost your driving privileges for a great deal of time, depending on your jurisdiction. In instances where the license has been lost, it might be possible to request hardship driving privileges, though it will be necessary to demonstrate that you would have absolutely no other way to reach school or work if you were unable to drive.

People who are not attorneys focusing in this area of the law are unlikely to be very knowledgeable about Illinois DUI law, though lawyers focusing on DWI cases are very familiar with the sorts of errors that can be made by arresting officers, and how such mistakes can benefit their clients. Attorneys who routinely practice in this branch of the law will be able to secure any video documentation of the arrest, determine whether the Pocahontas, IL arrest itself was valid and lawful, and will know how to attack the credibility of any field sobriety tests. The concept of probable cause might be a great boon to your prospects, as a valid arrest requires that the officer had a good reason for having pulled you over, such as failure to obey traffic signals or swerving.

The bottom line is that in order to forgo the very harsh consequences you may be facing you need to enlist the services of a seasoned criminal defense lawyer with vast experience in the DUI and DWI practice area in Pocahontas, IL. Would you ever contemplate doing surgery on yourself? It is extremely unlikely that you could ever take on such a risky proposition, and you would probably be inclined to secure the expertise of a professional. This is no different, the consequences of failure could be grave, so make sure you secure the best counsel you can going forward, if you don’t, you might regret not doing so for a long time to come.